Fog Index

For my Fog Index, I took an excerpt of my writing that I wrote about  a video game that I failed miserably at. 


"That was it. I rose from my seat and staggered my way towards the door. It seems I had somehow injured my foot in the chaos, so I alternated between dragging it and limping my tattered self down the stairs. The cool tiles felt almost refreshing on the soles of my feet upon my arrival to the kitchen. As I made my way towards the fridge, I passed a mirror in which I caught a fleeting glimpse of my haggard, slack-jawed self. Bloodshot eyes with bags under them, not only from the late nights but the late nights of failure, beard untrimmed and out of control, hair ruffled from bouts of frustration – I was a mess. With shaking hands, I open the fridge in search of refreshment. Soda? No. Orange juice? Uh uh. V8? I wish. All that stood on the platform that should be housing at least four different drinks for my consuming pleasure was a towering carton of milk and a pitcher of water. I’ve had water my whole life so I opted for the milk. I wearily search for a cup that wasn’t in the dish washer and after a good minute of meandering around the place I find one. A bit large but it’ll do. I pour myself a glass, set myself down on the nearest chair, and knock back my dairy product. With the faintest trace of a milk ‘stache, I took this time to begin some introspection..."


The Fog Index calls for a 100 word excerpt, so I cut down the size of the paragraph. After calculating it, my findings were that I averaged about 12 words per sentence with 1.4 words being considered "hard". This ultimately lead me to the Fog Index of 5.36. Frankly, I was surprised that the number wasn't lower as I feel like my writing can be quite basic at times. Aside from that, I also think it's a neat way to see where different pieces of writing stand a bit more objectively than just a normal read and response. This test will hopefully allow me to expand my diction beyond what I'd normally use and hoepfully I'll bring my Fog Index up a couple notches.